leeper@ahuta.UUCP (leeper) (02/10/85)
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE, THE WILD BUNCH, THE PROFESSIONALS,
THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, LONELY ARE THE BRAVE--what do these films have in
common? They all lament the passing of "the Old West" and its replacement
by modern times. Sergio Leone's addition to this group is his ONCE UPON A
TIME IN THE WEST. This is a long film, particularly in its full 165-minute
version. Frank Capra used to give his films pace and excitement by
rehearsing his actors, then telling them that they had to go through a scene
twice as fast. Leone does just the opposite. This film is full of long
scenes where short ones would have advanced the plot as much. Leone uses
the slow pacing to give the film texture: to show scenery, to build mood, to
zero in on facial expressions, and to give the feeling that the West was a
place of boredom punctuated by moments of terror.
Charles Bronson is a reasonable stand-in in a part that was likely
written with Clint Eastwood in mind. After all, this was Leone's follow-up
to his "Man with No Name" series. He plays his role enigmatically with
little more expression than a piece of wood. In a Leone western, as often
as not, the hero is more image than character. Henry Fonda, perhaps tired
of all the nice guy parts he has played over the years, plays a vicious and
ambitious gunman. In a Leone western one expects to see Italians in all the
bit parts, including in this film the part of a particularly ludicrous
Irishman. This film even has Claudia Cardinal as a femme fatale from New
Orleans. Jason Robards rounds out the list of lead actors as a mean hombre
with a likable side.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST has a good reputation for its mood,
created in large part by Ennio Morricone's score, but its pacing leaves it
time for little more plot than a cheap Saturday matinee western used to
have. Still, it is above average for this sort of thing. Give it a +1 on a
-4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
...ihnp4!ahuta!leeperreiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (02/23/85)
Admittedly, "Once Upon a Time in the West" is not lightning paced. That
didn't bother me, though. For me, the lingering closeups and wandering
camera built up the tension. I've heard this film referred to as "an
opera in which the arias are stared, not sung", and there's a lot of truth
to that. The plot isn't too complex. I just recently saw a really old,
really cheap John Wayne western (pre-"Stagecoach") with a very similar plot,
and it certainly wasn't the first time I'd seen that plot used. I think
Leone purposefully chose a simple plot, rather than the more convoluted and
rambling plot of "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly", because this film was
meant to be an archetype, a legend, a fairy tale, and those usually have
rather straightforward plots, in Western (Europe, not the US) culture,
anyway.
As to whether the Harmonica Man was originally intended as a role for Clint
Eastwood, maybe, but probably not. Leone originally wanted Clint Eastwood,
Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach to play the three gunfighters who meet Bronson's
train. Van Cleef and Wallach agreed, but Eastwood didn't, and it wouldn't
have been much of a joke without him.
--
Peter Reiher
reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiherjla@usl.UUCP (Joseph L Arceneaux) (02/28/85)
The long, slow paced shots are a large part of what characterizes Leone's
work, for me anyway. I think his lingering close ups of these men's faces,
which seem more real than real occasionally, are truly wonderful. Leone
knows how to use facial expression exceptionally well, letting these "strong,
silent, types" say everything with their faces.
For me, these long, tense scenes are perhaps the most interesting parts of
Leone's movies, a perfect amalgam of cinematography, acting, and (occasionally)
script. E.g., in ONCE UPON A TIME the guy who is being annoyed by the fly
and traps it in his pistol. Great!
And the scene where Robards meets Bronson...
"I saw three dusters like those at the train station. Inside the three dusters
were three men. Inside the three men were three bullets."
--
Joseph Arceneaux
USL Computer Science Department
{akgua, ut-sally}!usl!jla
"I'm sorry, but my kharma just ran over your dogma."